Marriage has measured up to expectations

December 29, 1969

During this golden time of togetherness without any traveling or visitors (or even classes), Nate and I moved through our days as if in a dream – a shared dream that had come true. We couldn’t get enough of each other and frequently found ourselves back in the comfort of our “new” bed, just wanting to hold onto each other and murmur sweet words.

As we came to December 29 and our first month anniversary, we agreed that our every expectation of marriage so far had been met and surpassed. We knew life probably couldn’t continue indefinitely on that idyllic level, but as long as it did, we planned to relish every minute.

Despite our financial struggles, we decided our anniversary called for a dinner out. We went one step above McDonald’s to a restaurant called Lum’s that had a similar menu. At least at Lum’s we didn’t have to eat in the car. But we drew the line at purchasing gifts — too expensive.

Nate told me he thought we could borrow $100 from the University of Illinois to get us over our financial hump… the equivalent of about $650 today. We prayed about it, hoping we were doing the right thing. Behind our borrowing was the hope that once Nate graduated from law school, he could earn enough in his first job to dispose of the debt.

Both sets of parents also offered to match the university funds, partly because they wanted us to pay a carpet layer to put down the donated (used) carpeting they had shipped to us. They assured us they wouldn’t need the money back any time soon.

If Nate could find a decent part-time job in January, we figured we could chip away at our debts — along with paying our regular bills – while he was still in law school.

Meanwhile, we never doubted God was taking care of us and made a point to ask him for guidance in every decision. And as we nervously made plans to borrow this “pile” of money, it was good to see that Nate credited the Lord as being the One who put together the rescue from our immediate dilemma.